Position indicating mechanism for machine tools



Nov. 1,1938. M. L. STRAWN I POSITION INDIGATING MECHANISM FOR MACHINE TOOLS Filed July 5, 1936 4 Sheets-Shee t 1 Nov. 1, 1938.

Ms L. STRAWN POSITION INDICATING MECHANISM FOR MACHINE TOOLS Filed July 5, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet '2 Nov; 1, 1938. M. L. STRAWN 2,134,743

POSITION INDICATING MECHANISM FOR MACHINE TOOLS Filed July 5, 1936 4 she ts-she t a Nov. 1, 1938. M. L.- STRAWN 2,134,743

' POSITION INDICATING' MECHANISM FOR MACHINE TOOLS Filed July 5, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 W 7/0/70 ,6. Sb mag 15 Another object is to provide an mechanism of the above general character having.

Patented Nov. 1,1938

PATENT OFFICE POSITION INDICA'I'ING MECHANISM FOR MACHINE TOOLS Marion L. Strawn, Rockford, Ill.,- asaignor to The Ingersoll Milling Machine Company, Rockford,

111., a corporation of Illinois Application July 3, 1936, Serial No. 88,727

20 Claims.

The invention relates generally tomachine tools and more particularly to a mechanism for indicating the position of one of the relatively movable. elements thereof.

One object of the invention isto provide a novel position indicating mechanism by which the position of a movable machine tool element may be indicated with a high degree of accuracy by the combined action of one indicator continuously responsive to the movement of the element and a second independently operable indicator arranged to be rendered operative selectively to indicate the precise position of the element.

indicating means to disable the accurate indicator when the machine tool element is being advanced at a relatively rapid rate or when the indicator has reached the limit or its operating range.

The invention also resides in certain structural features of the accurate indicating mechanism.

Further objects and advantages or the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a partial front elevation of a machine tool embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevation of the visual indicating mechanism included in Fig. 1.

v Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 of the indicating mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional'view along the line 4-4 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary detailed view Fig. 11 is a transverse sectional view along the line llll in Fig. 4.

Fig. 12 is a wiring diagram of the electric circuits associated with the indicating mechanism.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the invention has, for purposes of illustration, been shown as a means for gauging the horizontal position of atool head in a socalled planer type or milling machine. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the invention is equally applicable to many other types of machine tools and to the positioning of work tables or other machine elements. In Fig. 1, the nu meral l0 designates the cross rail of the milling .machine providing horizontal guideways which slidably support a tool head designated generally by the numeral ll. ably mounted for vertical movement on suitable guideways formed on a vertical supporting column l2.

Translatory movement is imparted to the tool head ll along the rail ill by the rotation of a The rail I0 is in turn slid- I lead screw H, which, in the present instance, is

driven by a feed motor l5 and a rapid traverse motor l6 connected thereto through a differential gearing (not shown) housed Within a casing ll. When the screw is operated by the motor l5, the tool head ii is translated along the rail ill at a relatively slow feed speed and when the rapid traverse motor I6 is also operating, the tool head is advanced at a rapid traverse rate. A milling cutter I8 is carried by a spindle l9 rotatably mounted on the head and driven by a motor therein.

In accordance with the invention, a novel arrangement has been provided for indicating the exact location of the relatively movable head H or any point of reference thereon relative to a fixed reference point. In general, the indicating mechanism preferably includes one means for' continuously indicating the approximate position of the tool head and a second means operable at will for indicating the exact location of the tool head. Thus;in-the construction illustrated, two visual indicators are included. One of these is designated generally by the numeral 21 and includes rotating disks 2|, 2|, 2| and H (Fig. 10) having numerals on the peripheries thereof which indicate the approximate displacement of the tool head H from some reference point such as the adjacent edge of the vertical column ii. The indication is approximate in that it is shown in increments of only a tenth of an inch. The second visual indicator includes a scale 24 calibrated in thousandths of an inch and having plus" and minus portions (Fig. 2) A pointer 26 cooperates with the scale 24 to indicate the thousandths of an inch which must be added to or subtracted from the approximate figure shown by the indicator 2| in order to determine the exact location of the tool head ii to a thousandth of an inch.

The visual indicating mechanism illustrated for showing the approximate location of the tool head is of the conventional revolution counter type. This revolution counter mechanism is actuated by an elongated rack 26 extending along the rail l0, and rigidly secured thereto by screws 27, and a cooperating pinion 26 meshing with the rack 26. The pinion 26 is thus rotated as the tool head H moves along the rail Ill. The pinion 26 is rigidly connected to the end of a shaft 26, which is connected through mitre gears 66 to a main operating shaft 6| of the indicating mechanism 2!.

The mechanism 2| is of conventional construction and consequently need not be described herein in detail. In general the operating shaft 6| is mounted in suitable anti-friction bearings carried by end plates 66 and 64. The disk 2i is rigidly secured to the shaft 6| by a key 66 while the disks 2|, 2i and 2| are loosely journaled thereon. Toothed plates 66 and 61 are secured to the inner face of the disk 2| by a rivet 36 and mesh with a pinion 39'. The pinion 66 in turn meshes with 2| by a rivet 4|. shaft 3| the disk 2| is rotated and the cooperating teeth on the plates 66, 31 and 46- and pinion 39 are so related that the disk 2|" will make one revolution for each ten revolutions of the disk 21. The disk 2i is similarly connected to the disk 2i" through a suitable connection including a pinion 42 so that the disk 2i turns one-tenth.

as fast as the disk 2i. Also the disk 2| is connected to the disk 2! through a suitable connec-- tion including a pinion 66 so that it turns onetenth as fast as the disk 2i. The device is so calibrated that the numerals on the periphery of the disks will indicate the distance in inches and tenths thereof. The tool head H is spaced along the rail in from the selected reference point.

The indicating mechanism described above is mounted within a housing which includes a cylindrical casing 44 projecting into an opening in the front wall of the tool head Ii. For a purpose to appear later, the casing 44 has a rectangular front end plate 46 having horizontal guiding edges positioned in dove-tailed guideways formed on the front wall of the tool head. The arrangement for visually indicating the exact displacement'of the tool head H from the approximate position shown by the indicating mechanism 2i preferably includes a toothed member mounted for bodily movement into and. out of engagement with the rack 26 and also for bodily floating movement longitudinally thereof so that the member may become fully engaged with the.

To support the plate 46- forvertical and also the lateral floating movement, it is formed rigid with and upstanding from a horizontal plate 48 which extends through a rectangular aperture 46 formed in a disk shaped end plate 66 secured by screws ii to the rear end of the casing 44. A second supporting plate 62 secured to the rear face of the plate 50 covers the aperture 49 and cooperates, with the plate 60 to guide the plate 46 vertically while permitting horizontal movement. The plate62 (see Figs. 5, 6 and 11) is mounted between suitable vertical flanges 63 formed on the end plate 60 and is secured to the latter by screws 64.

The toothed plate 46 is biased downwardly out of engagement with the rack 26 by a pair of compression springs 56 (Fig. mounted in bores 51 in the end plate 50. These springs bear against a wear plate 66 secured to the top of the horizontal plate 46, and plugs 56 threaded in the bores 51 serve to adjust the tension in the springs. Longitudinal floating movement of the toothed plate 46 in opposite directions is yieldably re- .sisted by pairs of springs 60. and 6! mounted in bores 62 and 63 formed in the plate 52 and 'respectively disposed on opposite sides of the plate 46. The outer ends of the springs 66 and 6| thus bear against the flanges 56 on plate 50 whilethe inner ends thereof bear against the rearfaces of plates 64 and 65 on plungers 66 and 61 slidable in bores 66 and 69 which prevent tilting of the a toothed plate 40 secured to one face of the disk Thus upon rotation of the guides. Hardened steel balls and H are mounted in suitable pockets formed in the faces of guide plates and bear against the adjacent end surfaces of the toothed plate 46 as shown in Fig. 5.

Means is provided for moving the toothed plate 66 against the bias of the springs 56 into engagement with the rack 26. This means includes a pair of cams i2 rigidly connected to shafts 13 having their opposite ends mounted in plate 52 and a partition 74 in the casing 64 (Fig. 3). Operating arms i5 rigidly secured to the shafts 13 are connected to an armature '16 of a suitable actuating solenoid Tl by tension springs 16. Thus upon energization of the solenoid I! the armature 16 as well as its attached arms are moved downwardly so that the cams 12 are rotated to an upright position. The cams i2 bear against the lower surface of the horizontal plate 46 so that the toothed plate 46 will be projected upwardly toward the rack 26 and into engagement therewith whenever thesolenoid is energized.

As the toothed plate 46 is moved toward the rack 26, the teeth thereon engage the tooth of the rack and are cammed thereby in one direction or the other as the plate teeth come into full mesh with the rack teeth. Thus the plate 46 is shifted longitudinally of the rack in one direction orthe other a variable distance depending on the relative positions of the rack .and plate teeth at the time the solenoid is energized.

,The mechanism for transmitting the resultant longitudinal floating movement of the toothed .plate 46 to the pointer includes a bell-crank lever 16 (see Figs. 4 and 11) loose on a sleeve 62 carried by a shaft 60. A knife edge 6| on the lever bears against the adjacent end of the plate 46, such engagement being maintained by a spring 66 acting on an arm 63 of the lever. The

back-lash take-up connection between the le- 76 vers. Th'eouter ends of the arms 83 and 84 are in the form of toothed sectors 86 and 61 respectively which mesh with a pinion 88 carried by a sleeve 88 loosely journaled on a shaft 80 which is supported in suitable anti-friction bearings 8I Upon reference to Fig. 7, it will be seen that if the teeth 41 of plate 46 are located slightly to the left of the high points of the teeth 26" on rack 26 before their engagement that the plate 46 will be displaced a short distance to-the left as'the teeth move into exact registry. As a consequence the lever 18 is rotated a short distance in'counter-clockwise direction to a position shown in dotted lines in Fig. '1. This movement is transmitted through and augmented by the pinion 88 and sector 86 so that shaft 85 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction a corresponding but greater distance than the movement of the toothed plate. This rotation of the shaft 85 rotates the pointer 25 of the, visual indicator.

In the particular construction illustrated, the distance between the high and low points of the teeth 26 on the rack 26 is 0.100 inch. In such case, if the high points of the teeth 41 on plate 46 first contact the teeth 26 at a point 0.085 inch from the low point of the teeth 26 the plate 46 will move the latter distance to the left. The pointer,25 will in such case register a minus" reading of 0.085 of an inch. Such reading is subtracted from the readingof the counter mechanism 32 in order to obtain the reading for the exact setting or position of the tool head II. Similarly as shown in Fig. 8, if the teeth 41 on the plate' 46 are located just to the right of the high points of the teeth 26 on the rack before they move into mesh, the plate 46 will be displaced a short distance to the right as it moves into mesh. The tension spring 88 secured to the sector 93 and to the casing 44 maintains the knife edge 8i in contact with the end of the plate 46 so that the shaft 85 is rotated in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 4 and 7. A plus reading is thus given on the scale 24 by the pointer 25 which represents the amount which should be added to the approximate indication of the counter mechanism 2I to ascertain the exact location of the tool head II.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description of the operation of the apparatus that the accuracy of the reading obtained will depend in a large part upon the precision'with which the complemental teeth on the rack 26 and plate 46 are formed. In order to obtain a high degree of precision in this respect, the teeth on the rack and plate are preferably formed by a screw threading operation. That is, a screw thread is cut on the periphery of a portion of metal stock in a'lathe and the threads may then be ground by well known methods to the exact dimensions required with great nicty. The threaded portion of metal stock thus formed is then cut into sectors of suitable thickness to form the rack and plate. Fig: 9 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the mating teeth 26 and 41 illustrating particularly the screw. threaded form. Upon reference to this figure, it will be seen that the teeth contact only at their center points rather than throughout their length thus adding to the precision of operation of the indicating mechanism.

To avoid possible' damage to the sensitive indicating mechanism, a suitable interlock between the energizing circuit of the rapid traversemotor I6 and the energizing circuit for the actuating solenoid 11 has been provided so that the solenoid is maintained disabled and the plate 46' connected to the supply lines by a contactor I04.

The contactor I04 is connected to any suitable main control circuit. The connection of solenoid 11 across supply lines I00, IN is controlled by a contactor I05 and an extra set of contacts I06 on the contactor I04. It will be noted that the contacts I06 are only closed when the main contacts of the contactor I04 are opened.

Thusfwhen the rapid traversemotor I6 is stopped by opening of the main contacts of contactor I04, the exact position indicator may be operated by energization of the solenoid 11 upon closure of a starting push button I01. This completes a circuit from supply line I through conductor I08, contacts I06, conductor I08, normally closed stop push button H0, conductor III, start push button I01, and conductors H2, H3. Theother side of the solenoid I1 is connected to the supply line IOI through conductors H4, H5, limit switches ,I I6, H1, and conductor H8. The closure of starting push button I01 also completes'an energizing circuit for actuating a winding H8 of contactor I so that contacts I20 thereof are closed, completing a sealing circuit for the contactor and solenoid. It will be noted that one terminal of the actuating winding H8 is connected to conductor H5 through conductor I2I while the other terminal is connected to conductor H3 through conductor I22. Closure of the contacts I20 completes a shunt circuit about the momentarily actuated starting push button I01 through conductors I28 and I24. The solenoid 11 and contactor I05 may be deenerglzed to release the toothed plate 46 by opening of the stop push button H0.

In some instances, the teeth "on the plate 46 may be located exactly in registry with the teeth 26 on the rack 26 so that no longitudinal movement on the plate and consequently no movement of the pointer 25 results when the solenoid I1 is energized. 'Iihis might lead to some confusion on the part of the operator as he would not be sure if the indicating mechanism were operating properly. In order to avoid this diihculty, a pair of indicating lamps I25 and I26 are disposed behind a translucent disk I21 on which the scale 24 is printed. These pilot lamps are lighted upon movement of the plate 46 into mesh with the rack 26. Upon reference to Fig. 12, it will be seen that pilot lamps I25 and I26 are connected to conductor H8 by conductors I28 and to conductor H3 through conductors I28 and switch I30. This switch is mounted on the casing end plate 50 adjacent the toothed plate 46 (Fig. 4) and is provided with an actuating pin I3l. The pin I3I is moved upwardly to close the normally open switch I30 in response to upward movement of the plate 48 which is attached to the toothed plate 46. It will thus be seen that the pilot lamps I25, I25 not only serve to illuminate the scale 24 but also give the operator a definite indication that the plate 48 has moved into mesh with the rack 25.

In the operation of the machine tool described above,'a work piece is secured to the table of the machine tool below the cross rail I 0 and at some selected distance from a reference point on the machine such as the inner edge of the vertical column I2. The tool head II is then moved toward the work piece at a rapid traverse rate until the milling cutter II is in a position to engage the work piece. During this traversing movement, the approximate location of the tool head is continuously indicated by the mechanism 2i, as described above, since thedriving pinion 25 thereof is continuously in mesh with the rack 25. Upon completion of the desired rapid traverse movement, the motor I5 isdeenergized and the slow or feed rate until the axis of the milling cutter I8 is exactly 29.75 inches from the adjacent edge of the vertical column I2. Insuch acase, the exact reading portion of the indicating mechanism may be set in operation during the feed movement of the milling cutter I8 by closing the starting push button I51. Upon closure of this push button, the solenoid I1 is operated and the toothed plate 25 is moved into mesh with the rack 25. The longitudinal displacement of the plate 25, in thus moving into mesh, causes a motion of the pointer 25 either to the right or left as the .case may be thus indicating the exact displacement of the milling cutter from the approximate position indicated by the mechanism 22. This maybe "plus 30" when the indicator is first set in operation. Then as the cutting operation continues. the indicating pointer 25 will move from 30" to 50 on the scale 24. At this point the operator is apprised of the fact that the cutter has reached the desired position whereupon the machineis stopped. The plate 45 is then retracted by the biasing springs .55 upon deenergization of the solenoid 11 on opening of the stop push button H5.

In view of the limited range of the scale 24, an arrangement has been provided for deenergizing the solenoid II in case a safe predetermined maximum amplitude of movement is exceeded. It will be apparent that this arrange-- ment is particularly advantageous in case the indicator mechanism is used while a tool head is being moved at a feed rate. In the particular construction illustrated, this safety arrangement includes the limit switches II. and III which are disposed on opposite sides of the lever arm 55. This lever arm is provided with projections 53' and 52'' which serve to open the normally closed limit switches upon contact therewith. Upon reference to Fig. 12,,it will be seen that the opening of either of the limit switches H5 or II! breaks the energizing circuit of the solenoid H as well as of contactor I55 so that the solenoid is deenergized and the toothed plate 45 moves out of mesh with the rack 25 back to its original position.

In some particular machining operations it.

. may be desirable to move the translatory machine tool element to some position located at an odd or unusual dimension from the established reference point and then move it in successive small increments to other points. Thus, it may be desirable to move the tool head II to a point 29.75 inches from the adjacent edge of the vertical column l2 and then to move .the same further from the column in increments of .003 of an inch. In such a case, there is some danger of miscalculation in adding the increments to the reference number 29.75. In order to avoid this diiilculty, a mechanism has been provided for shifting the pointer 25 to its zero position irrespective of the location of thetool head II on the rail III. This mechanism includes a manually operable hand wheel I22 connected to an adjusting screw I33 on the side of the indicating mechanism casing 4 (Fig. 2). Upon rotation of the hand wheel I32, the entire indicating mechanism is shifted laterally along the guides 45. As a result, the teeth 41 on the plate 45 may be brought into exact registry with the rack teeth so that the pointer 25 assumes its zero position. The tool head II may then be moved in the desired successive increments which will be indicated on the scale 24. An auxiliary pointer I34 is mounted on the indicating dial and serves to mark the location of the pointer 25 before making the manual adjustment described above. The indicator I34 is mounted on a bushing I35 surrounding the shaft and is connected to a rotatable manual adlusting knob I36 by a chain I31.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that a machine tool has been provided which can be operated with a high degreeof speed and accuracy. The dual indicating mechanism included therein makes it possible not only to indicate the approximate position of a cutting tool to the operator continuously, but also enables him to determine instantaneously with great nicety the exact location of the tool. Thus; the mechanism isextremely flexible in that it permits the length of a cutting movement being performed to be gauged accurately and also enables the tool to be moved to and positioned with precision in a preselected position.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in some detail for purposes of illustration of the invention, no intention to limit the invention to the particular construction shown should be inferred, but on the other hand, the appended claims are intended to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A machine tool comprising, in combination,

a plurality of relatively movable machine tool elements, an elongated toothed rack carried by one of said elements, a member having complemental teeth thereon engageable with the teeth of said rack, means supporting said toothed member on another of said machine tool elements for floating movement longitudinally of said rack and normally out of engagement therewith, means operable at will to move said member into engagement with said rack, and means for visually indicating the magnitude of the longitudi-- nal floating movement of said member required-1 to bring the complemental teeh on said rack and! said member into exact registering engagement upon the actuation of said last named means and thereby indicating the relative positions of said. machine tool elements.

2. A machine tool comprising, in combination,

a plurality of relatively translatable machine tool elements, a pair of members carried by the respective elements and having complemental recesses and projections adapted for interfitting engagement, said members being mounted for relative yielding movement in the direction ofrelative movement between said elements and for transverse movement into and out of interengagement, means operableat will to move said toothed members into and 'out of engagement, and means for indicating the relative longitudinal movement between said toothed members required to bring them into exact registering engagement upon the actuation of said last named means.

3. A machine tool comprising, in combination, a plurality of relatively movable machine tool elements, an elongated toothed rack carried by one of said elements. a plate having complemental teeth formed along atransverse edge thereof engageable with the teeth, of said rack, means including springs located at opposite ends of said plate for supporting the same on another of said machine tool elements for floating movement of said rack and for preventing tilting thereof about a transverse axis, means for normally maintaining the teeth on said plate out of engagement with said rack, means including an operating solenoid for selectively moving said plate toward said rack, means connected to said plate for magnifying and visually indicating the longitudinal floating movement of said platerequired to bring the complemental teeth on said rack and said plate into exact registering engagement upon the actuation of said last named means and thereby indicating the relative positions of said machine tool elements.

4. A machine tool comprising, in combination, a plurality of relatively movable machine tool elements, a sector of an elongated screw threaded member rigidly secured to one of said elements and iorming a rack thereon, a second shorter rack formed from a sector of a screw threaded member, said racks being mounted for movement into and out of meshing engagement connected to said-second rack for visually indicating the position of said one machine tool element with respect to another of said machine tool elements.

5. A machine tool comprising, in combination, a plurality of relatively movable machine tool elements, means including an indicator for showing the approximate relative position of one of said elements, an elongated toothed rack carried by said one element, a member having complemental teeth thereon engageable with the teeth of said rack, means supporting said toothed memher on another of said machine tool elements for floating movement longitudinally of said rack and normally out of engagement therewith,

means operable at will to move said member into engagement with said rack, and means for visually indicating the magnitude of the longitudinal floating movement of said member required to bring the complemental teeth on said rack and said member into exact registering engagement upon the actuation of said last named means and thereby accurately indicating the exact displacement of said one machine tool element from the indicated approximate position.

6. A machine tool comprising, in combination a plurality of relative movable machine tool elements, a rack carried by one of said elements,

a visual indicator, means including a pinion carried by another of said elements meshing with said rack and operatively connected to said indicator for showing the approximate relative position of said other element, a member having complemental teeth thereon engageable with the teeth of said rack, means supporting said toothed member on said other machine tool element for floating movement longitudinally of said rack and normally out of engagement therewith, means operable at will to move said member into engagement with said rack, and means for visually indicating the magnitude of the iongitudinal floating movement of said toothed mem-. ber required to bring the complemental teeth on said rack and said member into exact regis tering engagement upon the actuation of said last named means and thereby accurately indicating the exact displacement or" said other machine tool element from the indicated approximate position.

'7. A machine tool comprising, in combination, a translatable machine tool element, a guideway supporting the same, an elongated toothed rack mounted adjacent said guideway, a pinion meshing therewith, means including a revolution counter operatively connected to said pinion for indicating the displacement of said element from a reference point in increments of tenths of an inch, a member having complemental teeth thereon engageable with the teeth of said rack, means supporting said toothed member on said element for floating movement longitudinally of said rack and normally out of engagement therewith, means operable at will to move said member into engagement with said rack, an indicating dial calibrated in thousandths of and means for moving said pointer an amount corresponding to the floating movement of said member required to bring the complemental teeth on said rack and said member into full meshing engagement upon the actuation of said last named means and thereby indicating the exact displacement of the element from said reference point in thousandths of an inch.

8. A machine tool comprising, in combination, a plurality of relatively movable machine tool elements, a sector of an elongated screw threaded member rigidly secured to one of said elements and forming a rack thereon, a member havingcomplemental teeth thereon engageable with the teeth of said rack and formed from a short sector of a screw threaded member, means supporting said toothed member on another of said machine tool elements for floating movement longitudinally of said elongated rack and normally out of engagement therewith, means operable at will to move said member into engagement with said elongated rack, and means for visually indicating the magnitude of the longitudinal floating movement of said member required to bring the complemental teeth on said rack and said member into full meshing engagement upon the actuation of said last named 65 an inch and a pointer cooperating therewith,

automatically to disable said indicatingmechanism during relative movement between said elements at said rapid traverse rate while said elements are stationary or moving at said feed rate.

. 11. A machine tool comprising, in combination, a translatable machine tool element, a power actuated mechanism [or moving said element at a relatively slow feed. rate, a second power actuated mechanism for moving said element at a relatively rapid traverse'rate, an electric control circuit for said second actuating mechanism, a visual indicator for showing the position or said machine tool element in its path of translatory movement, selectively operable means including an electric circuit for rendering said visual indicator operative and inoperative, and

means interlocking said circuits of said indicator and said second power actuated mechanism to prevent the operation of said indicator when said machine tool element is moving at a rapid traverse rate.

12. A machine tool comprising, in combina-.

tion, a translatable machine toolelement, a power actuating mechanism for said element having an electric control circuit, means including an indicator for showing the approximate position 01' said machine tool element in its path of translatory movement, a visual indicator for showing the exact displacement of said machine tool element from such approximate position, selectively operable means including an electric circuit for rendering said second indicator operative and inoperative, and means interlocking said electric circuits to prevent the operation or said indicator except when said machine tool element is moving at a speed less than a predeterm'ined value or is stationary.

13. A machine tool comprising, in combination, a plurality oi relatively movable machine tool elements, mechanism continuously responsive to the relative movements between said elements to indicate the position of one element relative to the other, independently operable mechanism normally maintained inactive and arranged when rendered active to indicate the exact location of the movable element relative to the approximate position indicated by said first mentioned mechanism, and automatically acting means to disable said second mechanism during relative movement between said elements above a predetermined rate.

14. A machine tool comprising, in combination, a plurality of relatively movable machine tool elements, an elongated toothed rack carried by one of said elements, a member having compiemental teeth thereon engageable with the teeth of said rack, means supporting said toothed member on another of said machine tool elements for floating movement longitudinally of said rack and normally out of engagement therewith, actuating means operable at will to move'said member into engagement with said rack, means for visually indicating the magnitude of the floating movement of said member required to bring the complemental teeth on said rack and said member into exact registering engagement upon the actuation of said actuating means and thereby indicating the relative positions 01' saidmachine tool elements, and a pilot light for indicating when said rack and member are in engaged relation.

15. A machine tool comprising, in combination, a plurality of relatively translatable machine tool elements, a pair of toothed members carried by the respective elements and mountedv for movement into and out of meshing engagement and also for yielding movement longitudinally oi the direction of relative movement between the elements, the teeth on said members extending substantially transverse to said direction, actuating means operable at will to move said toothed members into and out of engagement, means for indicating the relative longitudinal movement between said toothed 'members required to bring them into full meshing engagement upon the actuation of .said last named means, and means for causing said actuating means to move said members out of engagement in response to a predetermined maximum longitudinal movement therebetween.

16. A machine tool comprising, in combination, a plurality of relatively movable machine tool elements, an elongated toothed rack carried by one oi said elements, a plate having complemental teeth formed along a transverse edge thereof engageable with the teeth oi saidrack, means including springs located at opposite ends of said plate for supporting the same on another of said machine tool elements for floating movement longitudinaiiy of said rack, means for normally maintaining the teeth on said plate out of engagement with said rack, means including an operating magnet for selectively moving said plate towards said rack, means including a linkage operativeiy connected to said plate for visually indicating the magnitude oi the longitudinal floating movement of said plate required to bring the complemental teeth on said plate and said rack into exact registering engagement upon the actuation of said last named means, and means including a pair oi limit switches associated with said linkage for deenergizing said magnet in response to a predetermined maximum relative movement between said plate and said rack.

17. A machine tool comprising, in combination,

a'translatory machine tool element, means including an indicator for showing the approximate position oi said element in its path of movement, means including a second indicator for accurately showing the precise displacement of the element from such approximate position, and manually operable means for moving said second indicator to its zero position independently of said element whereby to facilitate the'measurement of exact increments of movement 01' said element from any selected reference point.

18. A machine tool comprising, in combination, a plurality of relatively movable machine tool elements, an indicator having a member movable in unison with the relative movements between said elements and operable to indicate the-exact relative positions thereof through a relatively.

of an elongated screw threaded member and carried by one of said elements, a toothed member disposed for meshing engagement with said rack,

9,184,743 means. for eflecting relative movement between showing continuously the location of one of said elements relative to a reference point on another of said elements in approximate or relatively large increments of measurement, and indicator means rendered operable or inoperable independently of the continuous operation of said first named indicator for indicating in exact or relatively small increments the actual displacement of said one element from the position indicated in larger increments by said first named indicator, whereby the combined readings of said two indicators show the exact total displacement of said one element in from said reference point.

MARION L. STRAWN. 

